"It's real important to me," said Barton on getting at least one win at summer league. "I'm a competitive guy and I don't like losing. A lot of people watching these games and you don't want to just be losing every game. I don't like that. I don't care if I'm playing outside, I love to win games. If you out there on the court, doesn't matter if it's NBA game or summer league or you just playing with your friends, you never know who's watching. You want to win and play hard."

What's interesting is that Barton seemed to take his expanded role not as a sign of future strategic developments but as a milepost marker for his development to date. Getting the ball here, he seemed to suggest, was validation of the extra work he's done in recent months and the progress he made over the course of his rookie season.
"I'm more comfortable now, I'm a year in," he said. "I'm reading defenses, I'm watching a lot of film. ... I feel much more poised, if you pay attention I think you can tell. Not just offensively, defensively, reads now, I'm not hugged up on my man any more. I know my assignments. I know how to play gaps, play in space, offense, read defenses, knowing the plays -- I know all the plays now -- it feels good to be out there at ease, just do my job. ... I don't care who you are. You've got to get experience to excel."

I'm not sure how much Barton will play in the fall when the real Trail Blazer team shows up. But I certainly know what his role will be. The guy is an energy player -- something he's well aware of. He's a scrambler. He's a hustle guy. He is in there to create some havoc -- and if a little bit of that happens to slop over onto his own team, you kind of have to live with it. That's just his game.

Barton put together an inefficient night, scoring just 16 points on 17 shots. But he served as primary ball handler for much of the game, freeing CJ McCollum from point guard responsibilities so he could work off-ball. Yes, Barton had more turnovers (seven) than assists (four), but summer league is a place to work weaknesses, and Barton played out of his comfort zone and banged in the game-winning runner in overtime.

McCollum’s entire game is built around that capacity to create, and after watching the likes of Paul and Curry make such great use of their scoring instincts, he has an even greater pool to draw from in terms of understanding how to fulfill his scoring potential. That in itself doesn’t make McCollum destined for stardom, but it does make him a fascinating acquisition for a Portland team that can use him as both complement and surrogate to the dynamic Damian Lillard.
One might think it odd to choose two similar guards — in skill set, in profile and in collegiate experience — in consecutive drafts, but McCollum has proved to be effective both as a lead ball handler and mobile, off-ball threat. Portland clearly intends to make use of his skills in both roles.

CJ McCollum continues his climb up the Ladder with another solid performance and could overtake Kelly Olynyk if he keeps it up. In Wednesday's win, the guard out of Lehigh had 19 points on 5-for-14 shooting, going 3-for-7 from beyond the arc. Through four games, he leads all rookies in scoring at 20.7 ppg and looks like he's ready to contribute teaming up with Damian Lillard in the Portland backcourt.